The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "car manufacturer" ...
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Unintended Acceleration
After the unintended acceleration found in Toyota cars made the news, NPR chose to do a broader investigation of all car manufacturers. The research proved that all manufacturers had experienced some degree of acceleration issues in their cars as well.
Tags: Toyota; cars; car manufacturer; unintended acceleration; sudden acceleration
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Runaway Toyotas
Toyota has recently been in the news following “hundreds of owners having their vehicles suddenly accelerating out of control”. The investigation revealed “over two thousand cases of runaway Toyotas and Lexus cars, including reports of 200 accidents and 16 deaths”. Toyota blamed many of these accidents on the floor mat becoming stuck under the gas pedal and this was the cause of the acceleration.
Tags: automobiles; electronic computer system; safety; highway; drivers; manufacturers; transportation
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Fuel economy: Why you're not getting the mpg you expect
With fuel prices rising, Consumer Reports tested actual mpg rates for new cars and compared them with the manufacturers' mpg ratings. They found shortfalls in 90 percent of the vehicles they tested, including hybrids. In some models they found shortfalls of 50 percent. Manufacturers use prototype vehicles to determine mpg ratings and do not drive them the way actual consumers do.
Tags: miles per gallon; fuel economy; hybrid cars; manufacturer ratings; mpg city; mpg highway; gas mileage; prototype vehicles
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The Crown Victoria - A Free Press Investigation
This investigation found that more people have died in car accidents involving the Ford Crown Victoria (the country's most popular police cruiser) than the federal government disclosed when it cleared the vehicles of any manufacturing defects. This is because the basic structure of the car has remained unchanged, while most other models have had their gas tanks relocated to safer locations. In 2002, Ford made changes, but only after substantially more police officers had died.
Tags: police; automobiles; traffic safety; accidents; wrecks
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Trucks, Darlings of Drivers, Are Favored by the Law, Too
The Times reports on the enormous success of Chrysler's new SUV, Dodge Durango, and other light trucks. Auto dealers are happy to sell more; the consumers are happy to buy more. But what is the price of the deal? "If the Durango and most other sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and mini-vans were classified as cars, they would violate federal standards for pollution and gasoline consumption aimed at protecting the environment and conserving energy." The story finds that light trucks enjoy lower standards thanks to the combined lobbying muscle of dealers and manufacturers.
Tags: SUVs; light trucks; pollution; environment; gasoline consumption; global warming; emissions; GM; Ford; lobbying
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High and Mighty SUVs: The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way
According to the contest questionnaire, "SUVs have taken over America's roads. Ad campaigns promote the vehicles as safer and "greener" than ordinary cars and easier to handle in bad weather. However, in actuality, the gas-guzzling SUVs poorly protect occupants during crashes and inflict horrific damage to other cars." PublicAffairsreports on the safety and the environmental record of SUVs--including the Ford-Firestone rollover controversy.
Tags: BOOK; SUVs; Ford; Firestone; National Highway Safety Administration; EPA; safety records; auto industry; Bradsher Bar; SUV manufacturers; BOOK PAGES-468
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Paved with problems
An eight-month Columbus Dispatch investigation of the Ohio Department of Transportation found hazardous and sometimes-deadly driving conditions for motorists passing through highway construction zones and other irregularities. The investigation shows "ODOT has moved toward greater self-regulation among contractors by reducing its staff of full-time construction inspectors 43 percent and relying more heavily on manufacturers to test own products at asphalt and concrete plants."
Tags: safety; driving conditions; routes; ODOT; construction; CAR; database mapping project
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Sweat and Tears (Sweatshop series)
A Daily News investigation reveals that "New York City's garment industry routinely violates federal and state wage and hour laws." All major retailers sell clothes made in New York sweatshops by exploiting illegal Chinese immigrants. Garment workers work long hours for seven days a week, and get wages below the minimum of $5.15 per hour. Federal labor officials, as well as a state labor task force, keep "violations secret from retailers to protect brand name reputations and preserve business for local manufacturers and contractors." The investigation examines the price-making principles of the apparel market, and finds that avoiding illegal practices will have to either raise the clothes' prices, or cut the retailers' profits.
Tags: CAR; business; wages; unions; Chinese immigrants; illegal immigration; Federal Trade Commission; FOI requests; exploitation; teen fashions; Jenna LaneRampage; Dollhouse; Periscope; Asian Americans; civil rights violations; INS; OSHA; workplace safety; database mapping project
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Dreams tumbling down; "Manufactured promises" two-part series: The high cost of home & No longer their choice; State will review rules on housing; Troubled homes amid prosperity; Manufactured-housing trade group favors new disclosure laws; Panel urges more regulation of manufactured homes; Panel urges more regulation of manufactured homes; Difficulty follows easy-buy homes; Manufactured home dealers, state reach agreements
An Oregonian investigative series and follow-up stories report on how the rising cost of manufactured homes has forced residents into bankruptcy and moving out. As mobile home parks compete with the site-built housing business, their have become a hardly affordable place to live anymore, the Oregonian reports. Loans for manufactured houses usually carry 3 to 5 points higher interest rates than those for stick-built houses. The stories reveal that the industry targets young families and first-time home buyers, that developers impose additional "park packages" of up to 20,000 to 30,000 per home and that manufactured-home dealers are regulated less than car dealers.
Tags: mobile homes; real estate; trailers; rental parks; poverty; low income; elderly; social issues; bankruptcy; loans; mortgages; foreclosure; Oregon Manufactured Housing Association; homeowners; land development
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It' No Accident: How Corporations Sell Dangerous Baby Products
Felcher reveals case after case of babies and toddlers being injured or killed by cribs, cradles, carriers, car seats, strollers and other products supposedly designed to be safe. The author, a former marketing lecturer, examines the hideous tricks that big businesses use to hide from the public the risks that their products pose to children. The book depicts how the lack of enough regulatory power over baby products has given faulty companies the leeway to settle wrongful death lawsuits outside courts and to push grieving parents to accept gag orders.
Tags: BOOK; FOIA; safety; children; Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association; lawyers; litigation; Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); Consumer Product Safety Act; recalls; advertising; Graco; Hasbro; Century Products